This invention relates to apparatus and methods for providing personalized application search results in a wireless device. In particular, this invention relates to apparatus and methods for providing personalized application search results based on user profiles.
Computer devices connected by a network are typically capable of sharing information. In a world wide network, such as the Internet, client computers or devices connected to the network are capable of accessing information stored in virtually any server computers connected to the network. Many modern server computers provide rich media that are accessible across the Internet. Examples of rich media are audio, video, image, software, applications, games, data, and other multimedia information.
Typically, transmission of rich media across the Internet requires a wide bandwidth. Further, the cost and efficiency for a user to retrieve rich media is dependent on the capacity of the user""s computer or device. Partly due to size constraints, most existing wireless/mobile devices do not have the capacity to effectively retrieve rich media. In particular, most wireless/mobile devices have very limited memory space for caching and inadequate processing capability for retrieving complex objects.
Generally, wireless/mobile devices include a user interface, such as a micro-browser, pre-installed on a wireless/mobile device and a set of fixed applications and hierarchical menus for Internet access. Using the micro-browser, a user typically browses the Internet using the fixed menus or by manually entering specific uniform resource locators (URLs). Such fixed menus are not tailored to a user""s preferences.
Through the micro-browser, a user typically performs a search for an application or data on a network by entering keywords into an input area. Based on the keywords, a search engine, which typically resides on the gateway, performs a search and returns a set of search results. Often, hundreds or thousands of search results are returned. The user then has the option of narrowing the search by entering more keywords or browsing through the entire search results for the application or data set he/she is looking for. This latter option is especially problematic in wireless/mobile devices where the output device (e.g., screen) and working memory are typically small and connection to the network is costly. Further, existing search engines do not take into account personal preferences by each user. At a given time, different users entering the same set of keywords will get identical search results.
Thus, it is desirable to provide apparatus and methods for providing personalized application search results in a mobile device.
An exemplary method for providing personalized application search results in a mobile device comprises the steps of receiving a search request from a user, the search request including at least one search keyword and a user identifier, searching an application registration database for a first set of matching applications based on the search keyword, searching an application selection table for a second set of matching applications based on the search keyword and the user identifier, ordering the second set of matching applications based on frequency of use parameters in the application selection table to obtained an ordered second set of matching applications, appending a set of applications that are included in the first set of matching applications but not included the second set of matching applications to the end of the ordered second set of matching applications to obtain a third set of matching applications, generating a response to the search request based on the third set of matching applications, and sending the response to the user.
In one embodiment, the exemplary method further comprises the steps of collecting application registration information for each application and storing the application registration information in the application registry database. In an exemplary embodiment, the application registration information includes: a uniform resource locator, a brief description, and at least one associated keyword.
In another embodiment, the exemplary method further comprises the steps of receiving application selection records from the user and storing the application selection records in the application selection table. In an exemplary embodiment, each of the application selection records includes a uniform resource locator, at least one associated keyword, parameter values indicating a frequency of use, and a time stamp indicating a last use of the application. In one embodiment, the associated keyword is provided by a user for having been successful in searching the application.
Another exemplary method for providing personalized search results in a mobile device comprises the steps of receiving a set of keywords from a user, searching an application selection table for a first set of applications matching the set of keywords, examining a local file system to locate each of the first set of applications, generating a second set of applications including applications located in the local file system based on the examining, and displaying the second set of applications to the user.
In one embodiment, the exemplary method further comprises the steps of receiving a user selection of an application from a set of displayed applications, loading and executing the application, and updating the application selection table based on the user selection. In another embodiment, the exemplary method further comprises the steps of sending a set of application selection records from the application selection table to a gateway, receiving an acknowledgment from the gateway, and removing the set of application selection records from the application selection table.
An exemplary computer program product for providing personalized application search results in a mobile device comprises logic code for receiving a search request from a user, the search request including at least one search keyword and a user identifier, logic code for searching an application registry database for a first set of matching applications based on the search keyword, logic code for searching an application selection table for a second set of matching applications based on the search keyword and the user identifier, logic code for ordering the second set of matching applications based on frequency of use parameters in the application selection table to obtain an ordered second set of matching applications, logic code for appending a set of applications that are included in the first set of matching applications but not included in the second set of matching applications to the end of the ordered second set of matching aplications to obtain a third set of matching applications, logic code for generating a response to the search request based on the third set of matching applications, and logic code for sending the response to the user.
In one embodiment, the exemplary computer program product further comprises logic code for collecting application registration information for each application and logic code for storing the application registration information in the application registry database. In an exemplary embodiment, the application registration information includes: a uniform resource locator, a brief description, and at least one associated keyword.
In another embodiment, the exemplary computer program product further comprises logic code for receiving application selection records from the user and logic code for storing the application selection records in the application selection table. In an exemplary embodiment, each of the application selection records includes: a uniform resource locator, at least one associated keyword, parameter values indicating a frequency of use, and a time stamp indicatin a last use of the application.
Another exemplary computer program product for providing personalized search results in a mobile device comprises logic code for receiving a set of keywords from a user, logic code for searching an application selection table for a first set of applications matching the set of keywords, logic code for examining a local file system to locate each of the first set of applications, logic code for generating a second set of applications including applications located in the local system based on the examining, and logic code for displaying the second set of applications to the user.
In one embodiment, the exemplary computer program product further comprises logic code for receiving a user selection of an application from a set of displayed applications, logic code for loading and executing the application, and logic code for updating the application selection table based on the user selection. In another embodiment, the exemplary computer program product further comprises logic code for sending a set of application selection records from the application selection table to a gateway, logic code for receiving an acknowledgment from the gateway, and logic code for removing the set of application selection records from the application selection table.